Category: Events

Conferences, symposia, talks, walks and other art events in Melbourne and further afield.

Lectures and Study Tour | Desert Minimalism to the New Louvre

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The University of Melbourne is prresenting a series of public lectures in the lead up to their study tour to the United Arab Emirates and State of Qatar. See more information about the study tour here. To book for any of the lectures or for further information see the website here. Fully booked Monday, 21 August 2017 6.15pm–7.15pm  ‘The Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Twenty-First Century Art Museum: From Agent of the West to Global Art Experience’ Presenter: Associate Professor Christopher Marshall The Louvre Abu Dhabi is scheduled to open its doors to the public in November 2017 following ten years of planning and development. One of the most high profile and eagerly anticipated international museum projects of the past fifty years, this initiative has the potential to re-define what we mean by a public art museum in the 21st…

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Beyond Disegno: Professional Identity and Material Experimentation in mid 16th-century Italian Portraiture – Dr. Elena Calvillo

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Beyond Disegno: Professional Identity and Material Experimentation in mid 16th-century Italian Portraiture Dr. Elena Calvillo, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Richmond Date: 5:30-7pm, 17th August 2017 Venue: Lecture Theatre C (Room 124), Old Arts Building, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic, 3010 More info here: https://events.unimelb.edu.au/events/9214-beyond-disegno-professional-identity-and-material-experimentation-in-mid-16th-century By 1531, the Venetian artist Sebastiano del Piombo had resettled in Rome after the Sack, received a lucrative sinecure as the keeper of the papal seals and won acclaim for his method of painting in oils on stone supports. Two decades later, Agnolo Bronzino produced a series of portraits on tin supports while working for Cosimo I de’ Medici. This lecture examines the ways in which their innovative use of materials in portraiture contributed to both the painters’ and patrons’ identities, and how it made claims of originality and invention that might otherwise…

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Launch | Dancing Sculpture | NGV Australia

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DANCING SCULPTURE LAUNCH Date: Friday 11 August , 3pm Venue: Level 3 Foyer, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Federation Square, Melbourne FREE ENTRY The Australian Centre at the University of Melbourne invites you to the opening performance of Dancing Sculpture; an experience of modern dance and its transformation of movement and gesture in the twentieth century. Dancing Sculpture Fri 11 Aug: 3pm, Sat 12 Aug: 3pm and Sun 13 Aug: 12pm, 3pm These performances have been programmed as part of Leap Into the Modern – a one day symposium exploring modern dance in Australia from the 1930’s, curated by Professor Rachel Fensham and Dr Jordan Beth Vincent. THE DEMON MACHINE Dance students from the Victorian College of Arts perform choreographer Gertrud Bodenwieser’s Demon Machine (1924), a work of modern dance which toured Australia for nearly two decades beginning in 1939. This recreation by Carol Brown follows reconstructions by Shona Dunlop-MacTavish (1980); and Evelyn…

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Symposium | Syria: Ancient History – Modern Conflict | University of Melbourne

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The symposium for Syria: Ancient History – Modern Conflict expands on the eponymous exhibition, exploring Australian archaeological work in Syria across three decades. These excavations, and the materials they uncovered, will be presented within the framework of Syria’s current heritage crisis. The symposium will cover the various aspects of site analysis and management, touching on key issues like the politics of mapping archaeological landscapes and excavating sustainably. By bringing in experts from across the discipline we aim to show the wealth of knowledge that excavations in Syria have procured about the history of the region, as well as shedding some light on the process of archaeology and how it can aid in the current conflict. Join us for an illuminating symposium looking at the University’s past research projects in Syria and the contribution they have made to our understanding of…

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Lecture | Aleppo and Palmyra – How monuments were ‘weaponised’ in the Syrian conflict – Ross Burns | University of Melbourne

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Ross Burns, whose recent publications include Aleppo, A History and Monuments of Syria, presents an analysis of why the country’s incomparable store of historical buildings and sites has been so deliberately targeted. In many cases such damage represents not collateral casualties but the deliberate ‘weaponising’ of symbols of the past – turning historical treasures from many civilisations into weapons in a propaganda war. While such deliberate targeting represents only a small proportion of the carnage afflicted on the country – compared to the results of deliberate assaults on civilian housing, medical facilities and schools – such cultural assets can play an important role in the restoration of Syrian national identity after the end of the conflict. Adjunct Professor Ross Burns graduated in History and Archaeology from Sydney University, 1966 and spent 37 years in the Australian Foreign Service including posts…

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Lecture | Melbourne Mandarins: ‘Modern Chinese painters’ 1974 – Claire Roberts | Ian Potter Museum of Art

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Date: Thursday 10 Aug 2017, 6.00- 7.30pm Venue: Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne Free. RSVP via the website: http://www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/public-programs/current-events/prgm-date/2017-08-10/prgm/melbourne-mandarins-modern-chinese-painters-1974 Join us for a lecture on the exhibition ‘Modern Chinese Painters in the Traditional Style’, held at the University Art Gallery, Melbourne in 1974, an early and rather impressive effort to promote the appreciation of Chinese painting in Australia. The exhibition crossed boundaries in bringing together those in Australia with an interest in and knowledge of Chinese art to share their understandings with a wider public. At a pivotal moment in Australia’s changing relationship with China it reflected a fragile but evolving cultural eco system that developed from the efforts of a discerning group of citizens with strong links to the University. Followed by refreshments. Claire Roberts is an historian of Chinese art and a curator. She is…

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Lecture | Ding Yanyong’s Guangzhou/Hong Kong: A Forgotten History of Modern Chinese Art that Straddles the Year 1949 – Cai Tao | Ian Potter Museums of Art

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Ding Yanyong’s Guangzhou/Hong Kong: A Forgotten History of Modern Chinese Art that Straddles the Year 1949 Date: Wednesday 9 Aug 2017, 12.00- 1.30pm Venie: Ian Potter Museum of Art A lecture presented by Cai Tao with translation by Claire Roberts This talk will focus on the cross-disciplinary artistic practice developed by Ding Yanyong (1902-1978) in Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the period after the end of the Sino-Japanese War. Owing to the fact that Ding moved to Hong Kong after 1949, viewers in mainland Chinese remain unfamiliar with this talented avant-garde artist. Using works by Ding Yanyong from collections in Australia, Hong Kong and elsewhere, the talk will reconsider the artist’s life experience and, drawing on perspectives from modern East Asian art history, examine the pathways of modern art opened up by Ding Yanyong, Guan Liang, Tan Huamu and other…

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Workshop | Art and Translation: Ian Fairweather’s The Drunken Buddha | Ian Potter Museum of Art

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Date: Tuesday 8 Aug 2017, 10.00- 5.00pm Venue: Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne Website: http://www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/public-programs/current-events/prgm-date/2017-08-08/prgm/art-and-translation-ian-fairweather-s-the-drunken-buddha This international workshop will examine the translation of The Drunken Buddha (University of Queensland Press, 1965), from Chinese to English, by artist Ian Fairweather (1891-1974), and the accompanying illustrations. Scholars with backgrounds in Chinese language, literature and art history; artists and students of translation will come together to consider this rare example of a serious book-length translation by a practicing artist. How do we understand The Drunken Buddha in the context of literature, translation and creative practice? What was the relationship between Chinese language, translation and artistic practice for Fairweather, and what might that mean in an Australian context? Workshop participants include: Cai Tao, Associate Professor, Art History Research Institute, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Nicholas Jose, Professor of English and Creative…

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Seminar Presentations by candidates for the University of Melbourne position Lecturer in Art History (circa 500-1600)

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You are cordially invited to attend the upcoming Seminar Presentations by candidates for the following position: Lecturer in Art History (circa 500-1600) Date: Wednesday, 2 August, 9.40 am-11.40 am Venue: Arts West, North Wing, room 553 9.40am: Dr. Mark Erdmann will discuss his ongoing and future research on Japanese medieval and early modern art. 10.40am: Dr. Miya Tokumitsu will discuss her ongoing and future research on northern European medieval and early modern art For more information on the presentations, please contact Anne Dunlop anne.dunlop@unimelb.edu.au

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Workshop | Some Artists and Philosophers Walked into a Room | VCA

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Some Artists & Philosophers Walked into a Room… Tuesday 11 July, 2017 – 9.30am-5.30pm Theme: A work might be experienced in numerous ways—in person, online, across multiple versions, as a record, diagram, report, description, witness account, podcast, video, plan, remix, or even as a scalable aggregate of elements. Perhaps, once we consider the world of a work of art as a constellation of elements, the indeterminacy of art is given a more conspicuous materiality. Where is a work of art? Is there an optimum or primary point of entry into a work of art? Chairs: Sean Lowry (VCA) and Jenny McMahon (Philosophy, Adelaide) Presenters: Barbara Bolt, Elizabeth Burns Coleman, Edward Colless, Cate Consandine, Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro, Justin Clemens, Cynthia Freeland, Vanessa Godden, Andrew Goodman, Paul Guyer, Raafat Ishak, Kate Just, Tessa Laird, Claire Lambe, Sean Lowry, David Macarthur, Mohan Matthen,…

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Lecture | Dr Christopher Heathcote – Discovering Dobell | TarraWarra Museum of Art

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William Dobell Gentleman conversing with a prawn 1970 oil on panel 27.8 x 25.4 cm Private collection © Sir William Dobell Art Foundation

2pm, Saturday 22 July Dr. Christopher Heathcote, curator of Discovering Dobell, as he shares his fresh insights into the work of William Dobell. Exploring in detail Dobell’s London years, his portraits of Sydneysiders, and the more experimental New Guinea paintings, Heathcote’s lecture will present a close examination of the artist’s practice, shedding new light on the processes and methods by which the artist developed ideas from sketches to paintings. Exploring in detail Dobell’s London years, his portraits of Sydneysiders, and the more experimental New Guinea paintings, Heathcote’s lecture will present a close examination of the artist’s practice, shedding new light on the processes and methods by which the artist developed his ideas through several drawings and studies to reach one or more paintings. Dr. Christopher Heathcote is one of Australia’s foremost art critics and has written on a broad range of topics…

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Lecture | ‘Re-visiting Peter Lely’: a Dutch painter in seventeenth-century London – Diana Dethloff | University of Melbourne

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Peter Lely's Portrait of Sir John Rous

The Dutch-born artist Peter Lely was an important figure in seventeenth-century British portrait painting. His position as Principal Painter at the court of Charles II, and his portraits of royal mistresses and privileged courtiers have, for many, come to define the Restoration period, as well as earning Lely the reputation of being nothing more than a fashionable face painter. This lecture aims to present a more balanced assessment of an artist who enjoyed a working life of almost forty years, only half of which were as royal painter, and examines Lely’s work during the earlier periods of English civil war and Commonwealth government, in addition to that for the Restoration Court. As well as arguing for a more balanced view of this interesting and prolific artist, this discussion will provide a useful context for the National Gallery of Victoria’s own Lely portrait…

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Writing and Concepts | Yhonnie Scarce – Product of his Majesty | MUMA

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Image: Yhonnie Scarce, Thunder raining poison 2015. Photograph by Janelle Low

Yhonnie Scarce presents: “Product of his Majesty” Thu 6 July 6:00pm at Monash University Museum of Art Ground Floor, Building F, 900 Dandenong Rode, Caulfield East VIC 3145 link to facebook event, follow us on Instagram, or visit our website WRITING & CONCEPTS YHONNIE SCARCE was born in Woomera, South Australia, and belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu peoples. Scarce holds a Master of Fine Arts from Monash University. She is one of the first contemporary Australian artists to explore the political and aesthetic power of glass, describing her work as ‘politically motivated and emotionally driven’. Scarce’s work often references the on-going effects of colonisation on Aboriginal people, In particular her research focus has explored the impact of the removal and relocation of Aboriginal people from their homelands and the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families. Scarce’s work…

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Exhibition | dot, dot, dot […] | : SCA Galleries

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Bronwyn Bancroft, Falling Through Time (Riverstone series), 2012. Courtesy of the artist.

The Papunya dot is a powerful symbol of social and cultural identity in Aboriginal art and culture. In a new exhibition at Sydney College of the Arts, a group of artists harness the power that the dot holds for Aboriginal people, as a starting point to explore their own beliefs and ideas that drive them as artists in Australian society. The exhibition titled dot, dot, dot […] is curated by the University of Sydney’s SCA Lecturer, Wingara Mura Fellow and Dharug artist Janelle Evans. It follows an exhibition in Paris in 2012 – Beyond the Papunya Dot curated by Geraldine Le Roux – that exposed the diverse and complex nature of contemporary Indigenous art through the work of nine artists including Janelle Evans. In contrast to the Paris show, dot, dot, dot […], which is a collaborative project of Janelle…

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Exhibition and Art Talks | Call of the Avant-Garde Constructivism and Australian Art | Heide MoMA

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As part of the soon-to-open ‘Call of the Avant-Garde’ exhibition at Heide MoMA there are a series of floor talks whhere visitors can learn about Russian constructivist art and ideas and key works in the exhibition withy exhibiting artists, social commentators and curators. All talks are included with museum admission. All free with admission, no bookings required. Call of the Avant-Garde | Sunday 9 July, 2pm | An overview of the exhibition with its curators curators Lesley Harding and Sue Cramer Writing and Concepts: Art in the Time Of Trump | Saturday 22 July, 2pm | One hundred years after the Russian revolution, writer and social commentator Ben Eltham discusses dissent and descensus in the current political landscape. (Please be aware that this program has limited capacity.) Rose Nolan and Kerrie Poliness | Saturday 5 August, 2pm | Artists Rose…

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